Sea ice in Arctic reaches a record low

The extent of sea ice in the Arctic has reached a record low with two weeks left in the melt season, according to the University of Colorado National Snow and Ice Data Center.

As of Sunday, sea ice covered 1.58 million square miles in the Arctic, 27,000 square miles below a previous record set on Sept. 18, 2007. “Including this year, the six lowest ice extents in the satellite record have occurred in the last six years,” the data center reported.

Climate change has come to the Arctic at a faster pace than seen anywhere else on Earth.

The data center reported that surface ice is being lost at a rate of 29,000 square miles per day, roughly an area the size of South Carolina.

Photo: Florian Schulz / visionsofthewild.com

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A large lead develops north of Point Hope in the Chukchi Sea, The Arctic ice pack is breaking up earlier, and shrinking.

A large lead develops north of Point Hope in the Chukchi Sea, The Arctic ice pack is breaking up earlier, and shrinking.

Photo: Florian Schulz / visionsofthewild.com

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The forces of the wind and currents break up sheets of ice and later crush them together forming amazing everchanging landscapes of ice that vanish with the arrival of summer.

The forces of the wind and currents break up sheets of ice and later crush them together forming amazing everchanging landscapes of ice that vanish with the arrival of summer.

Photo: Florian Schulz / visionsofthewild.com

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The ice of the Arctic seems timeless, but it is thinning and the North Pole icepack may be gone in summer by 2050.

The ice of the Arctic seems timeless, but it is thinning and the North Pole icepack may be gone in summer by 2050.

Photo: Florian Schulz / visionsofthewild.com

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A barren ground grizzly bear in Alaska's high arctic, where oil companies covet key wildlife habitat. Thinning ice is forcing polar bears ashore and into competition with grizzlies for food.

A barren ground grizzly bear in Alaska's high arctic, where oil companies covet key wildlife habitat. Thinning ice is forcing polar bears ashore and into competition with grizzlies for food.

A polar bear jumps from one ice flow to another in the thinning Arctic ice pack off Alaska.

A polar bear jumps from one ice flow to another in the thinning Arctic ice pack off Alaska.

Photo: Florian Schulz / visionsofthewild.com

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Northern Lights in the Tombstone Range. Yukon Territory, Canada.

Northern Lights in the Tombstone Range. Yukon Territory, Canada.

Photo: Florian Schulz / visionsofthewild.com

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The severe beauty of the high Arctic can be deceiving. The ice pack is melting and thinning.

The severe beauty of the high Arctic can be deceiving. The ice pack is melting and thinning.

Photo: Florian Schulz / visionsofthewild.com

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On the ice in Greenland. Far-north Greenland and Canada may be the polar bear's last redoubt.

On the ice in Greenland. Far-north Greenland and Canada may be the polar bear's last redoubt.

Photo: Florian Schulz / visionsofthewild.com

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Under the Arctic ice, there is much life. But ocean is growing more acidic.

Under the Arctic ice, there is much life. But ocean is growing more acidic.

Photo: Florian Schulz / visionsofthewild.com

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On the ice.

On the ice.

Photo: Florian Schulz / visionsofthewild.com

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A polar bear seeks one last meal from picked-clean skeleton of a whale.

A polar bear seeks one last meal from picked-clean skeleton of a whale.

Photo: Florian Schulz / visionsofthewild.com

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A mother polar bear and two cubs, photographed off Svalbard in the Norwegian Arctic.

A mother polar bear and two cubs, photographed off Svalbard in the Norwegian Arctic.

Photo: Florian Schulz / visionsofthewild.com

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Mother and cub, nuzzling polar bears in the Norwegian Arctic.

Mother and cub, nuzzling polar bears in the Norwegian Arctic.

Photo: Florian Schulz / visionsofthewild.com

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A polar bear cub romps on the ice. With long snouts, keen smell and giant front paws, polar bears are built for their Arctic environment.

A polar bear cub romps on the ice. With long snouts, keen smell and giant front paws, polar bears are built for their Arctic environment.

Photo: Florian Schulz / visionsofthewild.com

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Photographer Florian Schulz, far from his native Germany.

Photographer Florian Schulz, far from his native Germany.

Photo: Florian Schulz / visionsofthewild.com

Sea ice in Arctic reaches a record low

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The melting ice has already resulted in polar bears being listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. The giant carnivores hunt seals off ice flows in the Arctic.

But the melting ice has impacted humans as well. The ice pack begins to re-form in mid-September, but it has been appearing later each year. Coastal villages along the Bering and Chukchi Seas have lost protection against fierce fall storms.

As well, coastlines in the Arctic are eroding, and the melting of permafrost has created tilting, so-called “drunken” forests in some areas.

The melt may prove a boon to oil companies seeking to explore in Arctic waters. A Shell Oil drilling ship is bound for the Chukchi Sea in hopes of drilling its first exploratory well in the next month. The federal government must still sign off on final drilling plans.

Walt Meier, a scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, told the Washington Post that both long-term global warming and particular conditions brough on the new low in sea ice. Previous melting has meant more open sea water, warming water temperatures and thinning the ice pack.

“The thinner ice cover is then more easily melted during the summer and more easily broken up by winds and waves from storms, which leads to more melting as well,” he told the Post in an e-mail.

“This year we had a pretty strong storm go through the Arctic in early August, ” he added. Even before the storm, the ice pack was being tracked at or below 2007 melt levels.